Putin and Xi Will Meet for First Time since Ukraine Invasion

Russian ambassador to communist China Andrei Denisov told reporters on Wednesday, national leaders of Russia and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, in Samarkand city, Uzbekistan, from September 15th to 16th.“Less than 10 days from now another meeting of our leaders will take place at the SCO summit in Samarkand. We are actively preparing for it. This summit promises to be interesting, because it will be the first full-fledged summit since the Chinese Communist Party’s virus pandemic,” Denisov said.  

 The visit to Uzbekistan is the first time for Xi Jinping’s visit abroad in more than two years. Russian media also reported, Xi plans to visit Kazakhstan ahead of the summit, but these reports are still unconfirmed.  

 Last time when Xi Jinping and Putin met was during the Beijing Winter Olympics, just a few weeks before the Kremlin sending troops. Both two presidents oversaw the signing of an agreement, which promised both parties’ relationship have “no limits,” and shared their common opposition of “further expanding NATO.”

 Until now, it’s still unclear whether Xi Jinping knew Russian plan to attack Ukraine at that time.

 It’s reported, Xi Jinping and Putin had two phone conversations since the Winter Olympic, most recently in June, when it was Xi Jinping’s 69th birthday, he described the Kremlin strongman as his “best and closest friend.”